EMF Fun Run

1) MINI REPORT

Justification in joining the activity:

I did not join many activities during the first semester since I was still trying to get used to the university life. I focused too much on my studies and I felt like I need to step out of my comfort zone and join an activity that I’m interested in, which is running. I was a good runner in high school but my skills went away when I got into matriculation as I got injured and I was afraid to run for a year because of the injury. Therefore, I decided to fight my fear and improve my skills back again. During this time, there were around three running programs that were organized by various clubs. I chose EMF Fun Run because of its objective, which is to create awareness on the need to save the nature especially endangered animals among students and society. I was intrigued by the objective and by joining this run, I could also donate to the charity.

The Graduate Attributes that are focused on:

The first attribute that is related to this activity is global citizen. This is because I kept myself updated with the current world issues especially the one that is related to the endangered animals. Joining this activity is the least I could do in order to create a positive micro impact on helping the environmental issues.

The second attribute that is related to this activity is adaptability. This is because by joining this activity, I was able to initiate and implement change. I’ve been resting for a whole year thinking that my injury still has not healed. To prepare for joining the activity, I trained myself by running slowly every day to make my injured knees stronger. During the activity, I was able to work effectively under pressure. Before this activity, I could barely run 3KM during training but I successfully finished a 5KM run without stopping.

Content of the activity:

 EMF Fun Run is a 5KM run for charity activity that was organized by Jurutek. On the day of the activity, participants were required to register at the main entrance of Stadium Azman Hashim and we were given a BIB and also light sticks. Then, we gathered around in a big circle to do a warmup before running. We started running at flag off time, which was at 8:30 P.M. After cut off time, all participants gathered at the middle of the stadium for the prize giving ceremony. Special prizes were given to the top 10 finishers only but the other participants were not let down as there was a chance on winning a lucky draw prize.

2) SELF-REFLECTION

Joining this activity surprisingly makes me a better global citizen as I am more ethical in making decisions. I did not pay much attention to the environmental issues and that made me ashamed of myself. The activity told me a lot of things about the issues of endangered animals that have been suffering in the hands of humans and it made me open my eyes. These days, I have been supporting cruelty free products, and animal charity businesses. Other than that, I also have been practicing a sustainable lifestyle to take care of the environment.

Joining this activity also makes me able to recognize a potential for improvement. When I got injured on my knees, I thought that my running days is already over. I stopped running for a long time as I was afraid of the pain and I thought that it will never heal. To join this activity, I trained myself for a week and it made me realise that I could run again. I may not be able to run as fast as I used to, but slowly I could improve myself. After joining this activity, I am more confident that my legs will be as strong as before and I could participate in a race in the future. I realises that I am more capable than what I thought.     

This activity makes me more excited to join another program. All these times, I thought that joining extra-curricular is just a waste of time and it could divert my focus from my studies. However, it is not the case here. Joining this activity actually makes me want to live a better life where I could balance my studies and social time. After this activity, I still jog almost everyday to live a healthier lifestyle.

The first challenge in joining this activity is building my stamina. I acknowledged the fact that running for 5KM after a year of resting will not be easy. Therefore, I did a lot of research to find out the best way to build my stamina slowly without making my injury worse. The best solution for me was to train every day. Two weeks prior to this activity, I went to a park almost every day to exercise. I started with jogging for 15 minutes and after several days, I was able to increase the duration to 30 minutes.

The second challenge in joining this activity is handling the pain. As expected, my knee still hurts when I run. It made me very disappointed as I thought that my injury should be healed after a year. After doing my research, I found out that the best way to heal my injury is by exercising and doing stretching. In order to control the pain while running, I wore a knee guard to protect my knee. On the activity day, I did not feel any pain the whole time I was running.